A wide variety of medical conditions and disorders have been successfully treated using implantable medical devices. Such implantable devices include, but are not limited to, stimulators, pacemakers, and defibrillators. Implantable devices are often housed within hermetically sealed enclosures configured to exclude water vapor but permit passage of electromagnetic fields used to transmit data and/or power.
It is often desirable to electrically couple an implantable medical device to another device. For example, an implantable device may be coupled to a lead having a number of electrodes disposed thereon so that the device may deliver electrical stimulation to a site within the body. Alternatively, an implantable device may be electrically coupled to an external device configured to communicate with and support the implantable device.
To facilitate electrical coupling to another device, many implantable devices include one or more electrical feedthru assemblies. Electrical feedthru assemblies provide a conductive path extending between the interior of a device's enclosure and a point outside the enclosure. A common type of feedthru assembly includes an array of conductive pins that have been connected at their proximal ends to electronic circuitry within the enclosure. The pins extend through the feedthru assembly to a point outside the enclosure, where they may be electrically coupled to electronic circuitry of another device.
Reliable connections between feedthru pins and electronics housed within an enclosure are often difficult to achieve when there are many connections to be made and/or when the enclosure is relatively small. With advancements in technology, many implantable devices have become increasingly complex and smaller in size. Hence, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make reliable connections between feedthru pins and electronics within an enclosure of an implantable device.